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Chaosmosis
Helene Appel, Emmanuelle Castellan, Chinatsu Ikeda, Nikola Irmer, Jasmine Justice, Alexis Knowlton, Marta Marcé, Alisa Margolis, Mira O`Brien, Eva Schwab, Bettina Sellmann, Helen Verhoeven, Katie Vida, Bettina Weiß
Eröffnung: 30.05.25, 19 Uhr
he group exhibition Chaosmosis brings together a collective of 14 female-identifying artists who engage in ongoing, in-depth studio dialogues. Fostering interactive collaboration – the exhibition foregrounds the discursive and material traces of their exchange. Through the use of text message threads, sticky notes, and studio paraphernalia alongside completed artworks, Chaosmosis adopts a mind-mapping methodology to depict the apparent dichotomy between the simultaneous ordering and disordering that inherently occurs in the process of artmaking.
The methodology mirrors the ongoing exchange among these artists. These exchanges unfold in a non-linear manner, weaving through both material and immaterial media, reflecting the nature of (collective) artistic processes and thought. “[The] power of chaosmosis, [is] its ability to traverse strata and break through barriers.” Felix Guattari
Titled after Guattari’s concept of chaosmosis – a neologism between “chaos” and “osmosis” – the theory suggests that chaos inevitably permeates all structures – individual, social, aesthetic, and technological – transforming them through interaction.
However, this is not a simplistic equation of chaos with disorder or decay; instead, it signifies the dynamic dance between chaos and order, where the exchange between chaos and order generates new meanings and forms of existence.
Rather than leading to dissolution, Chaosmosis is about emergence, transformation, and renewal. Albrecht Dürer’s 16th-century engraving The Witch serves as a visual representation of the collective’s interpretation of Chaosmosis. At its center, a witch rides backwards on a goat towards the forces of chaos entering the image at its peripheries. She is depicted fearlessly and determined, and surrounded by four cherubs—perhaps her helpers— who appear equally steadfast and devoted.
The circular composition is harmonious despite the imminent threat of chaos, suggesting the osmotic relationship between the witch, the goat and the cherubs. The entire composition of figures suggests the letter „a“, the first vowel and beginning of the alphabet. This notion that order and chaos present the origin of novel ideas and constructive feedback, resonates deeply with the collective’s methodology. It is perhaps this very sense of chaosmosis—a process of continuous exchange and transformation—that drew them to Dürer’s engraving as a cornerstone for their group exhibtion.
Ultimately, Chaosmosis explores the evolving relationships between artists, their work and their audience—only for these connections to dissolve once again into our minds when the exhibition ends.
(Text: Lucille Mona Ling)